


I Will Save You

by paradoxsunset



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Military, F/F, F/M, Gen, Korrasami is Canon, Loss of Limbs, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-07-23 16:50:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7471602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paradoxsunset/pseuds/paradoxsunset
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra is in the army.  On her tour she is injured in a way that will forever change her life, and Asami has to put back the pieces of Korra that have been shattered.  Military AU, Korrasami, deals with PTSD</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had this story up a good amount of time back and had to close my account. Fortunately, I am back and hope you all will check it out again! Please enjoy and drop a review or send me a DM!

“Do you have to go?” Asami whispered. Her green eyes glistened as tears threatened to rise to the surface. She was sitting in a small fold out chair in the corner. Korra was pressed next to her in her seat, and music was softly drifting out and filling their ears. Most of the people were sitting at tables around the room, scattered and in deep conversation. Asami had managed to pull Korra away from their friends to speak to her a while before she had to depart tomorrow.

“You know I do.” Korra replied sadly, “It’s only six months. My last tour, and then I’m all yours forever.”

“Only six months?” Asami groaned sadly. She leaned further into Korra, and her head pushed against the crook of the tan girl’s neck, “I don’t want you to leave.”

Korra’s strong tan arms draped around Asami and squeezed her tight. Her face buried into dark hair as she whispered, “I don’t want to leave you, but I promise that when we get back we’re going to start our lives together. I’ll call every chance I get.”

Asami nodded, knowing there was nothing she could do or say that will stop Korra from leaving. She knew Korra was defending her nation and Asami was forever grateful and proud of her for that. That being said, every time Korra left her she was so scared and sad and she would sit there day after day waiting for Korra to come back home safely. “I can’t wait for six months.”

Korra scattered kisses against Asami’s head before she pulled her face up and spotted Mako, Bolin, and Opal waving at them furiously from their seats. Asami must have noticed them too because she suddenly began to chuckle softly.

“Oops, looks like we went off on our own again, huh?”

“Ah they can deal with it.” Korra sighed, “We should probably go back over there though. I think your dad is going to speak soon, and he won’t like the two of us sitting over in the corner by ourselves.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Asami released her grip on Korra and laid a soft kiss on her lips before standing up. Korra took her hand and pulled herself to her feet.

“I have to go run to the bathroom really fast. Go deal with them for me?” Korra tilted her head to their friends and Asami smirked.

“Wow, let me deal with their wrath and you go run off to the bathroom. I see how it is.”

Korra chuckled, “Yup! Thank you, love you, be right back!” Korra kissed Asami once more before racing off towards the restroom.

Asami walked the short distance to her friends and took a seat in a spot around the circular table. “Sorry guys,” she apologized shortly.

“Oh, don’t worry about it!” Opal cut in, “It’s really no biggie. We just didn’t want you to miss your Dad’s big speech.”

Asami raised an eyebrow in question. Usually one of her friends would make some kind of sarcastic or snarky comment when Korra and her would run off and be all couple-y together. “Oh, okay.”

“Yeah, isn’t his speech for the service too? I’m sure it’ll mean a lot to Korra.” Mako asked.

“Yeah, he’s raising a bunch of money for a charity for wounded service members. It’s something him and Korra have been talking about non-stop. I know she’s really excited about it.” Asami folded her hands in her lap, the word wounded resonating in her ear and making her think of Korra leaving and being out in the field for the next six months.

“She’s going to be okay,” Bolin grabbed ahold of Asami’s arm, seeming to notice her discomfort. He always had a niche of knowing just what was going through Asami’s head.

Asami looked at him and smiled sadly, “Thanks Bo.”

He nodded. Asami realized the music had stopped, and just then Korra had walked out of the bathroom. She took a seat next to Asami, smiling brightly and gripping her hand. “I’m so happy your dad is going to talk about this.”

“Yeah, me too,” Asami agreed. 

Hiroshi walked out onto the stage, introducing himself first and thanking everyone for coming. Then, he dove right in. “I for one know what it’s like to have someone close to me in the service. I know that I would want the best care for her, and I would like to do all that I possibly could to ensure that her loved ones and she are cared for with the utmost attention. That’s why I brought you all out here tonight.” Hiroshi took a deep breath, running a hand threw his grey hair and pushing the rim of his glasses up farther against his nose. “Wounded Warriors Family Support is a charity that I would like to push all of you to donate for. The charity’s mission is to provide support to families of service men and women who have been wounded, injured or killed during combat. The support of the families may be financial and some psychological.” 

He continued on, stressing just how important the charity was. Asami found her eyes wandering over to Korra. Her blue eyes were staring right at Hiroshi, and Asami found herself leaning onto her shoulder and wrapping an arm around her waist.

“Can’t keep your hands off me, huh?” Korra joked, still looking ahead but smirking slightly.

“Nope, I can’t get enough of you.”

“I hope you never will.” Korra said shortly before turning her full attention back to Hiroshi once more. 

He went on for a few more minutes, stressing the importance of donating. When he was done, the band came back out and played once more. Mako, Bolin, Korra, Asami, and Opal talked for a good amount of time. They discussed all the things they had to do and what all they would be up to for the next few months.

“We’ll write to you, of course.” Opal said.

“Yes! Totally! I’ll draw you some awesome pictures of all the fun stuff Opal and I will be doing.” Bolin cheered. His eyes were bright and his smile was big. 

Korra laughed, “I do love getting those pictures.” She would never tell him, but many of the fellow members in her unit thought a young kid was sending her drawings, and they all got a laugh out of it when they found out it was a twenty-three year old. “And Mako, I love getting letters from you, but maybe something other than the weather?”

A blush rose up to Mako’s face, “There’s not much to talk about! Sorry my life is so boring!” He threw his hands up for emphasis.

“Whatever! I know you have some girlfriend now, even if you won’t tell me her name or bring her around. Plus, you’re a detective! Tell me some case stuff or something.”

“You know that’s confidential-”

“Ah whatever! Then the girl you have! Tell me all about her.” Korra interrupted him humorously.

“Fine, fine,” Mako agreed, crossing his arms across his chest and grumbling.

Korra chuckled again before turning to Asami, “Will you dance with me?” She asked.

Asami’s face lit up at the question, “You want to dance?” She asked.

“Yeah, I mean I know I’m not too good…”

“Not too good? Korra you trip over your feet.” Asami teased.

“Okay, so I’m really bad, but still! I know you love to dance.” Korra shrugged hopefully.

Asami laughed, “You’re so sweet. Yes, I’d love to dance with you. Come on.” Asami grabbed Korra’s hand and pulled her onto the dance floor. Korra smiled happily, letting Asami draw her in close. She swayed gently to the music, tilting in and leaning her forehead against the engineer’s.

“Do you remember this song?” Korra asked in a soft, gentle voice. Her arms tightened around Asami’s midsection, smiling warmly.  
“You’re the closest to heaven that I’ll ever be, and I don’t wanna go home right now.”

“Of course, you’re obsessed with this band. When you picked me up on our first date I think you played this song a hundred different times.” Asami chuckled at the memory.

“It was perfect though. When I drove you home, and it played when we pulled up to your house…” Korra trailed off.

“When sooner or later it’s over, I just don’t wanna miss you tonight.”

“I was getting out to open the car door and walk you to your front door. But then you grabbed my arm and pulled me in and kissed me.” Korra gave her cricked side grin, “It was so perfect.”

“It was,” Asami agreed, “That was nearly four years ago, isn’t that crazy?”

Korra laughed, “I hope four years is only the beginning.” One of Korra’s hands slipped from Asami’s waist and slid into the back pocket of her jeans, but Asami didn’t seem to notice.

“When everything’s made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.”

“Forever won’t ever be long enough with you Korra.” Asami whispered. 

Korra’s eyes sparkled, and she took a deep breath. Her other arm left Asami’s side and the green-eyed girl finally noticed their absence. Her eyebrows quirked up in question, and at that same moment Korra dropped down to one knee.

“Don’t freak out,” She mumbled quickly, “I just—I was thinking, and when I was thinking I realized that I can’t imagine not having you for the rest of my life. I love you, more than anything. Before I met you, I thought all this junk was made up. Now, I know it’s real and I never want this feeling to go away. I can’t even put into words how much you mean to me. I want to grow old with you. I want us to take care of each other and fight and love and be happy together.” Korra took a breath, “What I’m trying to say is… will you marry me?”

Korra’s hand came out, revealing the diamond ring pressed between two of her fingers. She looked up hopefully, spotting Asami’s green eyes that were now filled with tears with her manicured nails pressed against her mouth. If she weren’t so busy focusing on Asami, she would’ve noticed that the song had ended and everyone was turned to face the two of them.

Asami’s hands left her mouth and dropped down to grab ahold of Korra. She nodded over and over again and Korra stood up, feeling her own tears rise to the surface. Asami finally stuttered out a teary “yes” and Korra slid the ring onto her finger before her lips pressed against the engineer’s. 

The people around her erupted into cheers, and when the two pulled apart Korra dug her face into Asami’s hair and whispered, “I can’t wait for six months.”


	2. Chapter 2

Four months later.

Korra lay in her bed, her laptop sitting on her lap while she waited for six o’clock to roll around. One of the men, Kai, walked up to the side of the bunk and pulled himself up so he could see her. “Hey, we’re going to go kick the ball around outside, you in?”

Korra used her forearms to push herself up on the mattress, “Can’t, sorry,” She flashed him a side grin, “I’m Skyping Asami tonight.”

He smirked, “Oh yeah! I forgot Tuesdays you get all mushy on us.” 

She punched his arm lightly, “Says the guy that gushes over Jinora all the time. Except you get to see Jinora every day,”

He chuckled, “True! Well if you finish, come on out.”

Korra nodded. Once he was gone, it was just Korra and a few other people, who were mostly sitting around reading and napping. So she went ahead and pulled her laptop open. It was only about fifteen minutes till six. Hopefully Asami could get on a little early and Korra could start their conversation sooner. Maybe she went home from work a little early today and would get to her laptop sooner. Although that was doubtful, Korra realized, because Asami loved work way too much. So the blue-eyed girl sat there staring at the circle beside Asami’s name once she pulled up Skype, waiting for it to flash a bright green. 

“Let’s go!” She heard her commanding officer, Akio’s, loud, booming voice from outside of the tent. Korra sat the rest of the way up in her bed, listening for his voice again. He was a nice man, funny and outgoing, but when he wanted he was stern commanding. Needless to say Korra respected him quite a bit, and she got along with him well. “Go grab Korra and Rei! We’ve got to move to the other site.”

Her laptop slipped close, and Korra hopped off of her bed and made her way to the tent. Just then, Kai came bursting through the entrance, “Come on, we’re heading out.” He said. He looked over to Korra, “Guess there’s no Skyping tonight.”

Korra’s face became somber, but she nodded. “Yeah, guess not. Come on Rei, let’s go.” Korra called behind her to a girl asleep on a mattress. The girl, Rei, had long dark hair that reminded Korra of Asami. Her eyes were blue though, and her skin was tan. Korra and she had become good friends the past four months. She shook her awake before grabbing her bag and rushing out the door. Akio was sitting in the Humvee that Korra hopped into to. “What’s going on?” Korra asked.

“We were ordered to report to the unit in the west. There’s a mission tomorrow and we’re going to have to help with it. I’m leaving a few back here though, just in case.”

Korra looked back to see Kai and Jinora hopping into a chopper behind her. A few moments passed before it took up into the air and disappeared out of view. She tore her eyes away and dragged them to the tent. A handful of men were still standing outside. Korra moved up behind the front seats of the car to see Rei sitting shotgun with Toshiro driving. Toshiro was a short man with dark brown eyes and black hair. His skin was pale and Korra always thought that he looked a little sick. He was a nice, shy, innocent boy. “Ready to go?” Toshiro asked.

His voice was nervous, and Korra slapped a hand to his shoulder to try and comfort him the best she could. She then took a seat next to Akio as he told them to move out.

They had been driving for a while in silence before Korra decided to break the ice. “Sucks you had to cancel your little scrimmage huh?” Korra asked, looking up at him. 

Akio ran a hand across his squared jaw, “Eh, I’m not too good with soccer anyways. Or what do the Europeans call it?”

“Futbol,” Rei called from the front seat.

“Right, that’s what it is.” He leaned back and sighed, “Anyways, yeah I suck at it. I only know football. American football, the good kind,”

“I’d beg to differ on that sir,” Toshiro said, “I find soccer has a lot more finesse. Football players just go and run and knock each other onto their faces.”

Akio chuckled, “Yeah, but at least their tough. Soccer players act like they’ve been shot when they get their ankles clipped.”

A loud BOOM! and CRACK! erupted into the air. The front windshield went a bright reddish-orange, and the Humvees front end was pulled up off the ground. Korra’s eyes went wide as she felt her body leave the comfort of the metal floor. 

Korra heard a scream as the front glass broke and the fire gushed inside the vehicle. Then, everything went black.

When she came to, Akio was sitting above her, calling out her name over and over. Korra’s eyes slid open to meet his, and she was terrified to see the fear etched onto his face. Her vision was still a bit hazy however, and there was a searing pain ripping across her midsection and left arm.

“Korra, do you hear me?” He called out, one hand on each of Korra’s shoulders.

Korra’s head jerked up and down in a nod. “T-The others?” She croaked. 

Akio closed his eyes for a few moments. “Toshiro is gone. There was a landmine and he drove onto it. It hit his side full on, he’s gone.”

Korra gritted her teeth. He was young, not much older than 18. He shouldn’t have had to die. “Dammit. Rei? What about Rei?” 

“She’s on the other side of the vehicle. After I grab you we’re going to get her.” 

Korra just then spotted the blood spreading out across the lower portion of Akio’s stomach.

“Y-You’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine. Let’s get you out before we talk about me, alright?”

“Out?” Korra asked. Akio tilted his head to Korra’s left side and Korra turned to follow. Her left arm was smashed between a chunk of what once made up the vehicle and the dirt. “Oh,”

“Yeah,” He stumbled onto his feet and walked up to the piece of metal. “Alright, I’m going to try and lift it. Pull it the best you can out of there. Got it?”

Korra nodded.

“On three. One, two, three!” He let out a long yell. The metal chunk must not have been too large, because he managed to lift it a few inches off the ground. 

Korra yanked the left side of her body away from the metal, and let out a bitter scream. The pain in her arm became searing, but she still managed to roll to her side, pulling the limb against her tight. She bit her tongue, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to escape from the pain. She distantly heard Akio drop the metal and fall onto his butt.

“Good,” he mumbled. He dragged his knees over to meet Korra on the ground. “Let me see it.”

She swallowed the unforgiving pain fighting to take over and stuttered out an, “I’m fine.” Before dragging herself to her feet, her arm tucked away against her side. 

Akio stared at her arm, “Shit Korra,”

Korra dared to look at her left arm, and felt bile rise in her stomach. The lower half of her arm was a mangled mess. Blood was dripping down her hand and onto the dirt below them. She swallowed and looked away. “Come on, w-we have to get Rei.”

Akio decided not to mention anything else, and the two of them stumbled to the other side of the vehicle until Korra spotted black hair. Her feet managed to drag a bit faster until she dropped to her knees next to the girl, “Rei?” Both of her legs were trapped and she was unconscious. Korra let go of her injured arm and dropped her good arm down to press against the girl’s neck. “She’s alive.” 

“Thank God,” Akio said.

“Hopefully she doesn’t wake up too soon, because that’s going to hurt like hell.” 

Akio nodded in agreement. Korra looked over to him, noticing how pale he was. “Take off your shirt.” Korra said suddenly.

Akio couldn’t help but let out a smug smile, “But Korra, I thought you were getting married?”

She tried to laugh, but it came out as a choked groan and her free hand clutched the portion of her midsection that was in pain. “J-Just do it will you?”

He nodded, pulling the shirt over his head to reveal a piece of peeking out of his stomach. “Do I want to look?”

Korra took a deep breath, “No, no don’t look. Just, come over here and watch Rei.” He nodded, listening to her and deciding not to look down at his stomach. Korra pulled herself away from Rei so he could get in close to her. “Keep your fingers here and make sure her pulse stays good. Count it up to sixty for me, and then start again, okay?”

He nodded again, and Korra shuffled behind him to see the majority of metal sticking to his back. She leaned in against Akio’s back, and he tensed up at the contact, seeming to know what would be coming. She laid her left shoulder against him, seeing as her left arm was seemingly useless at the moment. Her right hand gripped the metal and pulled it out quickly, in one swift movement.

He screamed loudly, falling forward and clutching at his stomach. “Dammit Korra! You could’ve at least warned me!”

“Sorry,” she mumbled. She grabbed his shirt and handed it to him. “I’d tie to for you, but I don’t think I can.” 

He nodded, cringing as he slowly tied the fabric around to try and stop the bleeding. 

Okay, how’s Rei’s heartbeat?” Korra asked. 

“Good, good,” He mumbled. Korra watched as his head was dipped forward slightly. She reached out and pulled him back into her lap. 

“That’s good. She’ll be okay for a few seconds.”

He nodded, opening his mouth to say something but then changing his mind and closing it again.

“L-Let’s just worry about you for a few seconds.” Korra mumbled, running her right hand across his forehead and feeling a cold sweat break out against his skin.

“S-Says the girl whose arm is half-off,” 

She let out a soft chuckle, and watched as his head dipped against his chest. “Stay awake for me Akio,” She said as sternly as she could. She grabbed ahold of his head and tipped it back, looking at his glazed over eyes. 

“Yeah, I’m awake,” he muttered. 

“Talk to me, okay? Keep talking.”

Korra pulled her shirt over her head, yelping out in pain as the fabric grazed her lower arm. She crumpled it the best she could before trying to push it against Akio’s back. “Mmmm w-what about?”

Korra tried to think through her foggy mind for something personal about Akio. “Your sister,” she blurted out. Korra recalled Akio talking about her when they were playing cards once. He was crazy proud of her.

“Oh yeah,” He slurred, “Uhm, well she’s… graduating this year.”

“From where?” Korra pushed. 

“Hmm?” Akio’s eyes began to slide the rest of the way closed, and Korra tried again.

“Where does she go to school Akio?”

He mumbled a few things, his eyes still shut.

“Akio? Come on Akio, don’t do this to me.” Korra tried. 

He didn’t respond, and Korra felt tears spring to her eyes, “Come on!” Her eyebrows knitted herself together and her jaw clenched in frustration. 

“J-Just, just wake back up.” Korra looked down to see that the blood had soaked through her shirt now too. “Shit Akio,” 

The moonlight was haunting as Korra sat alone, waiting for someone to arrive. She pulled her body back a bit, keeping Akio in her lap. She got as close as she could to Rei and slipped a hand over to her neck, feeling her faint pulse.

She tried to move her left arm to check Akio, but the pain shot through her like lightening and she cried out in pain once more. After she bit down the pain, she sat her back against the metal that was encasing Rei’s legs. Her right arm moved from Rei’s neck to Akio’s, and she waited, hoping someone would find them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so most of these chapters have already been posted, but I am rewriting them and correcting some grammatical stuff. I will try and post one every day, and I have also been working on a few chapters to throw in here and there between the stuff I have already written.
> 
> As always let me know what you think! I really appreciate it.


	3. Chapter 3

Asami found herself sitting on her couch, her legs crossed and her hair tossed up in a messy bun. Today was Tuesday, and every Tuesday Korra would Skype Asami and they would take for as long as possible. Asami mostly enjoyed video chatting because she could be sure that Korra was alright. It made her feel a little bit better to see Korra and be sure. Sometimes Korra would call her, but that was at random. It would light up Asami’s day when she was sitting at lunch with Opal or when she was working on a new project and Korra would call.

 

Korra always asked what Asami had been up to. She wanted to know every detail, everything that she had missed. Whether it had to do with one of their friends, Asami’s family, Korra’s family, or Asami’s work, Korra was set on knowing everything there was to know. Asami wanted to know all about what Korra had been up to, but she didn’t like to talk about it much. The engineer understood, but at times it was worrying. When she talked to her father about it, he explained that it was a normal thing. He had served in the military too and had told Asami that some of the things Korra had to see and go through were too hard to talk about.

She would talk about it one day, he said, when she was ready.

Asami could wait for that, but she couldn’t wait for this call. Korra should’ve called her about ten minutes ago now. Of course, there was no reason to freak out. Stuff happens, maybe they had to move and there wasn’t Wi-Fi. Maybe Korra is out helping someone or making a run right now. She’d get to her soon enough, as soon as Korra could she’d contact Asami. 

So Asami waited impatiently. She tried to distract herself the best she could, but it was harder than she thought it would be. She kept flipping through channels, searching things on the internet, and even managed to make herself a nice dinner. She kept her phone and laptop next to her the whole time, just in case Korra called. 

At some point, Asami realized that the sun had gone down and when she checked her phone it was much past midnight. She had work tomorrow, and she knew that she should try and sleep. However, when she lay down in her bed with the laptop and phone in the spot next to her where Korra would usually be, the engineer was struck with a feeling that she couldn’t shake off. No matter how hard she tried, Asami didn’t get a bit of sleep that night.

“Korra, Korra can you hear me?!” Kai’s desperate voice cut through Korra’s foggy mind. She felt a hand on the back of her head and forced her eyes open. Why was he looking at her like that? Even with her fuzzy vision she could see that his green eyes were red and glassy like he had been crying, and his shaggy hair was slick and sweaty against his forehead. 

She opened her mouth, and felt a fresh wave of pain run through her body. She visibly cringed, and Kai let his hand fall to her face. “You’re okay, don’t worry. We’ve got you. Everything is going to be okay.”

Korra turned her head to where Rei had been before she must’ve lost consciousness, and felt her stomach contort when she saw a white sheep draped over her. “R-Rei?” Korra’s voice croaked. 

Kai’s eyebrows dropped back sadly. Korra pulled away from his hand a moment later, trying with all her being to get to Rei.

“Korra,” Kai started, “Stop, you’re really hurt and I need to move you so we can try and help.”

She knew he was right, there was a fierce pain in her stomach and her arm, and she felt so tired. But Rei was okay just a little bit ago, Korra made sure of it. So Korra rolled over onto her side, crying out as her arm hit the sand. Her body trembled, but she pushed a hand out, trying to get a grip on the sheet.

“You’re hurting yourself Korra!” Kai cried. Before she managed to get to Rei, Kai had ahold of her and was pulling her away.

“S-She was okay w-when I checked.” Korra’s shaky voice broke out, and she pulled against Kai. “If I w-wouldn’t have fallen asleep-”

“Dammit Korra, it wouldn’t have mattered. You passed out from pain and loss of blood. The metal got her legs. She bled out, it wouldn’t have mattered if you stayed up that whole time, we were too late to help.”

Korra felt her eyes begin to blur, and she couldn’t tell if it was from the tears or pain. “W-Where’s Akio?” 

Kai sighed from behind her, “The wound to his stomach hit some vital stuff Korra. Jinora said there was nothing anyone could’ve done to help.”

A sob escaped Korra’s lips. She felt Kai’s arms against her, trying to comfort her, but it didn’t and she welcomed the next wave of pain that coursed through her. She didn’t help them, she didn’t do enough. Her head shook violently, back and forth, and Kai pulled her closer, not letting her escape his grasps as she cried out.

“We’ve got to get you to the helicopter Korra. I know it’s hard right now, but we need to get you help now. Your stomach is still bleeding and your arm—your arm doesn’t look good.”

Korra suddenly remembered bright green eyes. Sweet, loving, sincere, green eyes that would wake up next to her and make her heart feel lighter. “Asami,” she mumbled softly.

“Yes, Asami is waiting for you. I need to get you back to her now, alright?”

Korra nodded this time, her senses numbing and her vision starting to lose focus. Kai picked her up as gently as he could, but it still hurt so badly and Korra let out a loud cry. He moved quickly, finding the helicopter and setting her inside as rapidly as he could. 

Korra’s vision tilted once more, and she spotted Jinora over her, working the best she could with what she had. “J-Jinora,” Korra called out. She felt her eyes start to drift closed, and knew that soon enough she would drift off again.

“Hey Korra, I’m going to fix you up really good okay? “ Jinora told her. Through lidded eyes, Korra could see that Jinora’s face told a different story than her voice. 

“Mhm,” Korra agreed, “W-When you call Asami,” she sucked in a breath as Jinora pushed gauze against her stomach.

“Sorry, Korra, I know it hurts.” Jinora said, still pushing and adding more gauze.

“Tell her I’m fine. D-Don’t worry her, o-okay?”

“Okay,” Jinora said quickly, and Korra reached out with her right arm and gripped Jinora tightly.

“Promise me,”

Jinora stopped working for a split second to look at Korra. She swallowed thickly, “I promise.”

“Good,” Korra let her arm fall limply back to the ground. Her eyes grew much too heavy, and the last thing she saw was Kai pressing a phone to his ears. She hoped Jinora would keep her promise.


	4. Chapter 4

“We have to call Asami. Someone is supposed to call her…well Akio was supposed to but-” Kai trailed off, pushing the phone up to his ear and then letting it fall again, unsure of how to go forward with what he wanted to do.

“Yeah, I know.” Jinora’s voice was laced with sadness. She finished taping down another piece of gauze against Korra’s stomach, and by this point Korra’s side and left forearm were covered with the white material. “Korra’s out now. I know I promised her that I wouldn’t tell Asami if it was bad but I feel like we need to tell her the truth.”

“I didn’t make any promise.” Kai said softly. He hated to go against what Korra wanted, but the gauze was already beginning to turn a pinkish red color on her arm. He took the phone and made his way up to the tan girl sprawled out on the ground. 

Jinora was trembling above Korra, her hands finally done working and now making sure she stayed stable until they arrived at the hospital, “Wait—we’re supposed to call Korra’s parents first.”

Kai froze on the spot and looked from Korra to Jinora, “I don’t think I could tell Tonraq…I wouldn’t know what to say or how to say it. At least I know Asami enough that I will know what to say.”

Jinora sighed, “I can’t believe this is happening.”

Kai wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against him. “I know. She’s strong though, if anyone can get through this…all of this…it’s Korra.”

Jinora nodded in agreement, sniffing and wiping at her eyes vigorously. She leaned forward, inspecting Korra’s dirty face and then quickly getting up from her spot. She came back a few moments later with a wet rag and began wiping at the dirt on Korra’s face. 

“We should wait until we get her to the hospital to call. Since Korra can’t talk, and Akio can’t--” Jinora’s voice cracked, and she took a deep breath. “We don’t know if she’s going to be able to be transferred to the states or if she will be stuck over here.”

“I hope she can get back home soon, but I don’t know.” Kai paused, “Senna and Tonraq, oh God they’re going to be worried sick.”

“Tonraq was in the marines though…”

“Yeah, and he knows that if she can’t be transferred back home then she is hurt pretty bad.”

They sat there for a long time in silence.

Eventually, Jinora stopped wiping at Korra’s face and sighed. Korra needed to get back home with Asami and the rest of her family. She ran her thumb against the tan girl’s cheek, feeling how clammy it was against her skin. “How far out are we?” She yelled to man operating the helicopter.

“Less than two minutes!” He called back. They must have been in the car for longer than she thought.

“Hurry up!” Jinora knew he was going as fast as he could, but she couldn’t help it. She just wanted to get Korra the medical attention she needed as fast as she could. She was worried that Korra’s arm was too far gone for anyone to help at this point, and she hoped that she was wrong.

“Let’s get her on the stretcher, yeah?” Kai said. His voice was calm and even, but Jinora could tell that he was trying to hold it together. 

Jinora nodded in agreement, and by the time they arrived Kai and Jinora were hopping out of the helicopter with Korra strapped down to the stretcher. The medics attended to her immediately. Jinora went to help them, and before she slipped through the doors she told Kai that someone needed to call Asami and Korra’s parents now.

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

Jinora nodded, leaning in leaving a kiss on his cheek before going to help with Korra. Kai paced back in forth for what seemed like hours, trying to get the nerve to dial Asami’s number. He remembered Korra talking about Skyping her only a handful of hours ago. Now Korra was severely injured and everyone that had been in the vehicle with her was gone. Asami was at home, worried sick, wondering why Korra had yet to contact her. 

Kai didn’t want to confirm her worries. He didn’t want to tell Asami that Korra was not okay. They were all friends. He knew just how much Asami cared about Korra, and vice-versa. He dialed the number and hit send before he had the chance to stop himself.

The phone only rang twice before Asami answered. “Hello?” Asami’s voice rushed. 

“Hello, Asami?” Kai asked. He tried his best to keep his voice from trembling, “It’s Kai.”

“Kai?” Asami’s voice dropped, “Why are you calling me?” 

Kai took a deep breath, “I’m calling because Korra was injured.”

Asami dropped her toolbox with a loud clank onto the concrete floor.

“Asami? Are you there? Are you okay?” Kai asked through the receiver. 

Asami felt her eyes begin to water, “Injured? What do you mean?” She pressed the phone harder against her ear, making sure she was hearing him right.

“I don’t know any specifics right now.” Asami could hear Kai’s voice shaking, “I just know that the vehicle she was in hit some sort of explosive. Korra wanted me to tell you that she’s going to be fine though, and she doesn’t want you to worry. That’s what she said on the way over.” 

“So she was okay on the way to get medical attention? She was talking and everything?”

Kai paused, “Yeah, well-she was talking.”

Asami rubbed at her forehead. “This is Korra we’re talking about. Don’t be naïve Asami. You know how she is.” Asami thought. She took a deep breath and spoke again, “Kai, don’t you dare lie to me right now, okay?”

Kai nodded before realizing that Asami couldn’t see him, “Right, of course Asami.”

“How bad is it really?” Asami sucked in a breath, finding herself sitting against the concrete because her legs were shaking and so were her hands and just about everything on her entire body.

Kai sighed, “Her stomach and arm got the brunt of it. I don’t think her stomach looked too bad, but her arm was—well it didn’t look very good Asami.” He thought back to the mutilated mess that was her left forearm and cringed.

“I’m coming,” Asami stuttered, jumping to her feet and grabbing the keys to one of her cars. “I’m coming right now. Tell me, where are you? What hospital?”

“Asami, we’re in Germany right now. If you’d just wait…Korra may be transferred to the US.”

“May be? Oh God Kai,” She shoved the keys into the ignition and slammed her door closed. “I need to see her. Think of Jinora, please. You know you’d have to see her.”

“We’re at Landstuhl Regional Center in Germany. Please, just be careful.”

Asami ended the call. She dropped her phone on the passenger seat and felt her eyes go blurry. A sob ripped through her chest, and her hands slammed onto the wheel viciously. Over and over, she pounded, until her hands started to ache and the sobs became nothing but quiet, soft tears. She wiped at her eyes, sniffing and trying to calm herself down. 

“Please be okay, Korra.” Asami whispered. She threw the car into drive and took off down the road.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami finds out the extent of Korra's injuries.

Thanks to the high status of Hiroshi’s company, Asami had access to a private jet. She called her father immediately, explaining what little she knew and how serious the circumstances were. He was quick to call up his pilot and within the hour Asami was off to Germany. 

The flight took a little less than 8 hours, giving Asami plenty of time to worry. Although she hated the idea of being alone with her thoughts, she was happy that she hadn’t allowed her father to come. She was a mess most of the way there, crying and wiping at her swollen eyes. She needed to get as much emotion out while she had the chance, she decided, before she saw Korra. Korra would need her to be strong, and even though deep down Asami was falling apart, she would try her hardest to look composed in front of her fiancé. So she was sitting in the jet, shamelessly crying her eyes out and praying that when she landed Korra would be okay.

When the plane touched down a car was waiting for her to take her to the hospital. She was thankful for her father’s success at times like these, because God knows what she would do if she had to wait for a flight to arrive and go through all the nonsense that came with airports.

“We’re not far from the hospital, Ms. Sato.” The driver said from the front seat.

She nodded her head, giving him her best smile and muttering out a “thank you” before she pulled out her makeup and tried the best she could to hide the fact she had been crying most of the flight. 

Once she realized that her eyes would be glassy and swollen no matter what she did, she gave up. Asami put her things away and pulled out her phone, dialing Kai’s number and shoving the electronic up against her ear hastily. Her teeth pulled at her bottom lip nervously, awaiting Kai’s answer.

“Asami?” Kai’s usually boisterous voice was soft, and Asami felt her stomach twist into knots.

“Kai, hi,” she cleared her throat, “I’m almost to the hospital.”

“Oh,” he paused, “Well that’s great. I mean, we haven’t heard anything…well I haven’t. Jinora is back there helping. So when you get here, come to the waiting room. That’s where I am. How close are you?”

Asami reached up and tapped her driver’s shoulder, “How close?”

“Five minutes,” he said, tearing his eyes away from the road for a split second to inform Asami.  
Asami relayed the message to Kai, and Kai told her that no news was good news.

 

The silence consumed both Kai and Asami in the waiting room. Kai began nervously tapping his foot, and Asami was biting a hole in her lip at this point. “Was it just Korra that was injured?” Asami asked suddenly. She hadn’t thought of the fact that other people could’ve been harmed in the accident.

Kai looked at her, and his eyes became downcast once more. “There were three other people in the vehicle.”

“You weren’t there though?” Asami asked. She didn’t want to push him to talk about something he didn’t want to talk about, but she wanted to know what she was walking into. If Korra woke up- when Korra woke up, she needed to know what all Korra was dealing with.

“No, Jinora and I took the helicopter. Akio, Rei, and Toshiro were there with her. They hit some sort of explosive. I don’t know what happened exactly—but I know that Rei and Akio were alive for at least a little while before we got there, but it took us too long and we were too late.” Kei looked at the ground. “Korra tried to help, but by the injuries I saw, nothing she could’ve done would’ve saved them.”

Asami sighed and felt like crying once again. Whenever Korra and Asami were video chatting, Rei would always find her way to Korra’s bunk and would speak to Asami, playfully poking fun at Korra and always lightening the mood. Korra spoke so highly of Akio too, about how great of a man he was. Toshiro, by what Korra told her, was just out of high school. He had his whole life ahead of him. “You know how Korra is,” Asami’s voice was soft, and she knew that once she cried everything would come rushing back and she wouldn’t be able to stop. 

“Yeah, I do.” Kai said sadly, “You just have to convince her that she couldn’t change what happened.”

Just then, Jinora came through the double doors. Asami and Kai jumped to their feet, and Jinora walked in their direction. Before she reached them, Asami spoke. “Is she alright? Is she alive?” ‘Please be alive. Please don’t take her away from me.’ She thought.

Jinora folded her hands together across her front and looked up at the two of them, “Yes, she’s alive.”

Asami was hugging Jinora as soon as the words left her mouth. “Thank you,” She squeezed her, before pulling back, a smile plastered on her face.

Jinora nodded, but the look on her face was anything but happy. Both Asami and Kai picked up on this.

“What’s the matter Jinora?” Kai asked, his hand reaching out and gripping her shoulder.

“Well,” She took a deep breath, “her stomach got fixed up well. We had to give her quite a few stitches but luckily nothing was injured internally. She hurt her arm pretty bad though. We tried everything we could, but it was just irreparable and we had to amputate.”

The words echoed through Asami’s head, and her smile was gone just as quickly as it came. “Amputate?” 

She nodded, “Her left arm, from the elbow down.”

Asami took a few shaky breaths and found herself running her hands through her hair. Half of Korra’s arm is gone. It wasn’t that it bothered Asami. All that mattered to Asami was that Korra was okay. She was terrified, however, of how Korra would feel about it. When Korra wasn’t deployed, she was working back at home. Even though Asami’s job gave the two of them plenty of money, Korra loved to work. She loved to work on cars with Asami, fix things around the house, and do any sort of physical labor she could. It didn’t matter what it was, but Korra loved using her hands and now she only had one of them. 

Jinora’s arms were suddenly on Asami’s, and Asami was snapped out of her thoughts. “Are you okay?”

‘No, I’m not okay. I’m terrified and worried sick.’ Asami wanted to say. But that was selfish, this wasn’t about her, it was about Korra. So she lied, “Yeah, fine." She then took a deep breath, "I just want to see her. Can I see her?” 

Jinora tried her best to put a smile on her face, “Yes, of course. I’m sure you’re the only one she wants to see when she wakes up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all who have read and commented! I'll post the next chapter soon, I just have a few things to edit :)


	6. Chapter 6

“Make sure you call Tonraq and Senna,” Asami told Kai quickly, “Tell them she’s going to be okay. Tell them I’ll call the two of them and I’ll get her home as soon as I can.”

Kai nodded. His eyes were sad at the news of Korra’s state. Jinora was gripping his arm tightly, and Asami gave them both quick hugs before turning and following the doctor through the double doors to her fiancé.

The engineer was nervous to say the least as she followed the doctor through the many winding halls of the hospital. Her heart was beating loud and fast in her ears. Asami was thankful that she would be the only person there when Korra woke up. Asami knew Korra and she knew that under these circumstances, Korra would feel uncomfortable with anyone seeing her when she could be perceived as weak. The engineer hoped that she could be an exception to that. She knew Korra inside and out and she loved Korra with all her being. She wanted to be there when Korra was broken and she wanted to help put her back together again.

Still, Asami wasn’t sure what to expect when the doctor stopped and turned to her, “Here she is; room 259. She should be up pretty soon.” 

Asami met his warm gaze, “Thank you.”

“Page me if you need me. When she wakes up, give her some time. People react differently to these kinds of things.”

Asami nodded. ‘These kinds of things- he means losing a limb.’ The doctor opened the door, and Asami slid in. She tried to prepare herself the best she could, but she still felt like falling apart when her gaze reached the hospital bed. 

Korra’s face was scratched up on one side, the worst a cut that slid across her cheek. It had a few stitches lacing it together. Her stomach was covered, which Asami decided she was thankful for. She knew there were stitches in there too, and she didn’t want Korra to look more broken than she already did. Asami finally let her gaze fall to Korra’s arm—well what was left of it. Her left hand that Asami used to hold was gone. Her wrist where she wore the bracelet that Asami had once given her was nowhere to be seen. At her elbow there were several layers of thick gauze, indicating that yes, some of her arm was left.

Her feet slid to the bedside of Korra without a second thought. She pulled up a chair and sat on Korra’s left side. Her manicured nails reached out and gently traced Korra’s tan skin. They slid across her cheek to her lips, down to her chin and her shoulder. Asami needed to be sure she could feel Korra—she needed to be sure that Korra was real and she was with her. Her red nails dragged further down, from Korra’s shoulder down to her elbow, until it hit gauze. She stopped.

The gauze felt strange underneath her fingertips. It felt foreign. She should be able to trail her fingers further down, down to Korra’s forearm, wrist, and hand. She should be able to trace all of Korra’s body like she did every morning when she woke up next to the blue-eyed girl and took the sight of her in. This wasn’t fair for Korra. She was just trying to protect people, to help them, and now she could never get a part of herself back. 

Asami sucked in a breath, not realizing that tears were steadily making their way down her pale cheeks. She wiped at them quickly before letting her hand fall back to Korra’s unscathed cheek. She leaned up and out of her seat so that she could press a soft kiss to Korra’s chapped lips. Asami found herself leaning her head against Korra’s chest, so she could feel Korra’s steady heartbeat against her ears. It was comforting, reassuring that Korra was here and alive and she would be well soon enough.

Her eyes slid closed and Asami realized that she hadn’t stopped crying, and that she couldn’t stop anytime soon. Korra was here. She thought she might lose her, but she didn’t. She didn’t know how to say how thankful she was for that. 

Asami wasn’t sure how long she stayed like that. Her head against Korra’s chest, her tears streaming down her tan skin, but at some point she felt Korra twitch above her. Asami quickly pulled herself up, wiping her eyes once more and resting her hand on Korra’s shoulder gently.

Korra let out a soft groan, her head was pounding and pulsing in an agonizing way, and her arm and stomach were on fire. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and forced her eyes open. The light from the room blinded her at first, and she had to blink a few times to get them to adjust. 

“Kor?” Korra would know that voice from anywhere. A sense of relief washed over her and Korra’s head dropped to the side to look at her fiancé, but her eyes caught something else beforehand. The pain in her left arm—she spotted the gauze and saw the bedsheets where her forearm should be. Her mind went blank, and a sort of numbness washed over her. She couldn’t take her eyes off of it, off of the nothingness. She felt a pit settle inside of her stomach and suddenly couldn’t catch her breath.

“Hey, hey, Korra,” Asami’s voice seemed distant, an echo somewhere far off that she could barely hear. Korra attempted to lift her left arm, but the pain shot up through her shoulder and she cringed, sucking in a breath and letting out a small yelp. Asami’s hand was on Korra’s left shoulder, pushing her down gently. “You’re hurting yourself,” Her voice was so soft, it was almost a whisper.

Korra’s right arm reached across her, and she ignored the pain in her stomach as she settled her right hand across the gauze. Her shaky fingers trailed across it. She ignored the pain, feeling every inch of the gauze, and then moving her hand across the bedsheets where her forearm would be.

Asami’s hands were suddenly on Korra’s cheeks, one of them cupped slightly so they wouldn’t hit Korra’s stitches, and the engineer tore Korra’s face away from the lost limb. Korra’s eyes dared to meet Asami’s, and she was met with striking, vibrant green. Those green eyes had so much love and comfort and they were looking at Korra like she was the only thing on this planet. Korra’s blue eyes suddenly blurred, and before she had the chance to stop herself—before she could put up her walls and be strong, Asami leaned down and kissed her forehead. Korra let Asami guide her right arm back to its side, and then a loud sob wracked her body, and she shook, letting the pain wash over her. 

Asami pushed herself up, her hands never leaving Korra’s cheeks. She somehow managed to slide onto the cot, where she pulled Korra’s bad arm up onto her lap ever so gengtly and then pulled the blankets over it. Asami’s arm wrapped around Korra’s shoulder and she pulled Korra’s head into the crook of her neck. She ran her hand through Korra’s hair softly, “Shh,” she murmured softly, “everything is going to be alright. I’m not going anywhere, alright? We’re going to get through this, I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has read the story:) let me know what you think!


	7. Chapter 7

Ten days later.

Asami had been in contact with Korra’s parents ever since Korra had woken up. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to tell them about. Korra had barely spoken to anyone in the past week, and when she did her voice was monotonous and detached, only saying what was necessary before distancing herself once more. The doctor had spoken to Asami about how events like what happened to Korra could leave lasting affects not only physically, but also mentally. He mentioned PTSD and depression, signs of it, and how to help with it. Asami had started reading up on it as soon as the doctor had talked to her about it. 

Asami still didn’t know what happened, she still didn’t have a clue what all had occurred to injure Korra so permanently and make her so reserved. Whatever it was had done enough to make her jump when metal hit the floor, and wake up in cold sweats where she couldn’t catch her breath. Asami realized after the first few nights that she would have to talk Korra down. It helped when Asami drew Korra’s eyes to hers and held her. These actions seemed to ground the blue-eyed girl for a few moments.

‘It takes time.’ The doctor had told her. ‘You just have to be there for her.’ Asami would be there for her, for however long it took. They loved each other and Asami would never leave. She promised Korra that every night. She told her every night before they fell asleep in the small hospital room that she loved Korra more than anything and that they would get through this. 

Korra would nod or squeeze her hand, but not much else. She hadn’t cried since she first woke up to discover part of her arm missing. Asami knew she was still in physical pain, when she moved her left arm she would wince, and her stomach was still a bit tender. Even so, the doctor was letting them leave today. 

He suggested therapy for what had happened, but reminded Asami that it was up to Korra. When she was ready to move past this she would. Asami nodded, completely understanding. Korra would be required to go to physical therapy, but that was to be expected. Everything would be different now, and Korra would have to learn how to do everything another way. 

Asami was just happy that they should be able to go home and stay in their own bed tonight. The engineer hoped that their home would be more comforting for Korra than this cold hospital room. Senna and Tonraq will be in town when they arrive, and Asami was sure that Korra would want to see them. 

Korra had spoken a little that morning, but ever since she had gotten dressed so the two of them could leave, she had been silent. Asami had completely forgotten to grab Korra some spare clothes before she left to come to the hospital, but luckily enough she had an extra pair of sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt that Korra could wear home. It was the first time Korra had tried to put on clothes since she got to the hospital, and it showed. Asami hadn’t offered to help, simply because Korra seemed so determined. It had taken a bit of time, but she eventually managed.

Asami’s hand was on Korra’s thigh, and she was absentmindedly running circles through her sweats when the doctor walked in. Asami looked over to him and gave him a small smile. He returned the gesture and then looked over to Korra.

“Alright Korra, let’s check your stitches. If everything looks good, you should be able to go home today.” He gave her his best smile, flashing his pearly whites. 

Korra looked up at him and nodded, reaching up what was left of her left arm and letting him remove the gauze. He quickly untangled it from her arm and inspected the stitches. Asami had noticed quickly that every time the doctor removed the gauze from Korra’s limb, Korra couldn’t take her eyes off of it. Something about gauze being taken off seemed to make it more real for the blue-eyed girl. 

“That looks great. It’s healing up nicely.” He grabbed some new gauze and securely wrapped it around her arm. He did the same for her stomach, giving her the same result before going and standing at the end of Korra’s bed. “I’ve already had the nurse write it up, and I’ve said it before I’m sure. Make sure you keep the stitches clean.”

There were a few moments of silence before Asami realized that Korra wasn’t going to answer him. “Yes, of course.” She said quickly, answering for her fiancé. 

“The stitches will have to be taken out in another week or so. I’ll have the nurse bring the discharge papers.”

“Thank you.” Asami spoke. The doctor gave a curt nod before leaving the room. 

Silence filled the small hospital room once more. For once, Asami didn’t mind. She was ecstatic. Korra could go home and they could lie in their own bed together. Asami could wrap her up in her arms like they did before Korra left. She could reassure the tan girl just how much she loved her and how much she cared about her in so many different ways. Korra could start to heal. She could start to get better. 

Asami just wanted Korra to know that she was there, and that she wasn’t leaving. The ring on her left finger made sure of that. Asami was peering down at her ring, smiling to herself. She looked over and noticed that Korra didn’t have a ring on. She didn’t have a left finger to put the ring on.

Asami sucked in a breath, suddenly the silence was overwhelming. Asami was about to speak when the nurse walked in through the door, handing them the discharge papers. Korra was quick to sign them as she awkwardly laid the stack of papers on her thigh and leaned so she could write her name, wincing at the stitches pulling on her stomach. 

Asami pushed what was bothering her moments earlier to the back of her mind and stood up from her chair. She grabbed her bag as well as Korra’s from the corner of the room and stood up, waiting as Korra signed the last of the papers.

The nurse wheeled in a wheelchair and parked it by the door.

“Ready to go?” Asami asked. 

A small smile flashed across Korra’s face.

“I can’t wait to go home.” She spoke, a sense of longing filling her voice.

Asami felt warmth spread inside of her. “I can’t wait to be home with you.”

Korra’s smile stayed for a few more seconds until the nurse pushed the wheelchair up to the side of Korra’s bed. The nurse sat patiently, and Korra then realized what the nurse was waiting for.

“No thanks,” she mumbled to the nurse, not bothering to look at her.

The nurse smiled at her sheepishly. “Miss, it’s not really an option. I’ll just wheel you out of the hospital, it’s just policy.”

“I don’t need to be wheeled out of the hospital.” Korra responded. Her tone wasn’t monotonous like before the doctor came in, and it wasn’t hopeful like moments before when Asami spoke to her. It was harsh, stern.

“I understand you don’t need to be wheeled out Miss,” The nurse looked uncomfortable, unsure of how to handle the situation, “but you have to be.”

“Last time I checked I had two legs. Maybe not two arms, but two legs. I don’t need your stupid wheelchair.” Korra bit. She felt anger boil up inside of her. Korra wasn’t helpless. She didn’t need to be wheeled out of here. She’s already lost an arm and so many of her friends, let her keep her dignity. Her right hand clenched together, turning white as she strangled the bed linens.

Korra didn’t get angry usually. It took a lot to get her even slightly riled up. Since the injury, however, Asami noticed that Korra would become angry very easily. Even so, Asami wasn’t expecting Korra to get so upset about something that literally every single person in the hospital had to do.

The nurse didn’t respond. Asami was sure she didn’t know what to say. Asami walked up next to Korra on the bed, spotting her white knuckles. “Kor,” she said softly. Her pale hand dropped down to Korra’s, and softly undid her fingers from the sheets. Asami sat down next to her and slid her other hand up Korra’s back to rub circles on her skin. 

The touch seemed to calm Korra down a bit, and she looked over at Asami, the scowl no longer set in her features. “I can walk.” Korra’s voice was still unyielding, but the anger had seemed to dissipate.

“I know you can. The nurse knows you can too.” Asami smiled at her. “Think of when I hurt my arm when working on my car. You freaked out and rushed me up to the ER. All they did was put on a cast and give me a sling. Remember?” 

Korra nodded, “Your arm was super swollen and purple. I just wanted to be sure you were okay.”

“I know.” Asami grinned. She reached out and rested her hand on Korra’s cheek. “It was so sweet. I’m thankful for you caring so much. That’s not what I was getting at though.” She ran her thumb across Korra’s skin, “When we were leaving, they had me wheeled out. I most definitely did not need help getting out of there.” 

Korra sighed, realizing what Asami was getting at. 

“Think, the sooner you sit down, the sooner we leave, and the sooner we are home.” Asami smiled. “We can lay in our own bed tonight and we can stay there all day tomorrow. Just you and me,”

Korra seemed to play with the idea in her head for a while, and looked over at the nurse once more. The woman was uncomfortably staring down at the chair, her hands playing with the rubber holds to push it along the tile that lined the hospital floor.

“Let’s just get out of here.” She finally relented.

Asami leaned in and gave Korra a chaste kiss before helping her into the wheelchair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys have any suggestions or anything you would like to see in the story at some point, let me know! I'm in the process of rewriting it and editing it so I can add a few things. Thank you for checking out the story :)


	8. Chapter 8

The plane ride started off uneventful. Their things were loaded by the pilot before Asami had led Korra up the steps, being a bit overprotective and making sure she got in safely. Although Korra would never admit it, Asami could tell she was still in a good amount of pain, and the soreness showed as she trudged her way up the steps of the plane and gently sat herself down in one of the seats.

Asami told the pilot to take them home, and after that they were off. They sat in silence for the first few hours. Korra wanted to speak to her fiancé, but she didn’t know what to say. That had been the theme for her the past week when she woke up to Asami next to her side every single time. Korra felt so off and so very different than the person she was when she proposed to Asami. That person she was then wouldn’t shut up, she wouldn’t stop talking to Asami and complimenting her and making sure she knew just how special the engineer was. This new person she was couldn’t force herself to speak or smile or tell Asami that she loved her. She felt so damaged, and she knows that Asami will deny that Korra is broken, but to Korra- all the proof she needed was inspecting herself in the mirror and seeing the stitches that held her together and the piece of her that was lost.

Her stupid arm, her stupid arm that was smashed under metal and torn to pieces. Every time Korra fell into a good slumber, she would dream of lying next to Asami. She would hold Asami in her arms and then call Rei or Akio on the phone and everything would be fine. No, everything would be perfect. That’s how things were before the accident, they were perfect. Then Korra would wake up, and she would realize that reality was the nightmare.

Asami was sitting next to her groggily. Her eyes were half lidded but she was trying to stay awake. Korra felt herself reaching out to grab her, but when she saw there was nothing to grab Asami with, she dropped her arm. Korra was happy Asami didn’t see that. It was embarrassing, humiliating. Instead of reaching out for her, Korra cleared her throat, “’Sami,”

Asami’s head snapped to Korra. She was obviously surprised that their silence was broken, “Yeah babe?”

 

‘Babe,’ Korra thought, ‘yeah right’. “Why don’t you get some rest?”

Asami smiled warmly, “I’m fine. I want to stay up with you. We have a while to go and I think there’s a storm coming and you know how that is.”

Korra nodded. Asami didn’t do too well when flying through storms. For some reason it freaked her out. That was always a bit humorous to Korra. The woman would fly anything and build anything but was scared of when a storm came in her own self-designed airplanes. “I’ll wake you up when it comes then.”

“You promise?”

Korra nodded again. 

Asami sighed. Korra’s face was so blank, so stoic that Asami couldn’t read it. Her green eyes caught sight of the cut across her cheek that had the stitches already out. She noticed how it was a little red around the edges. Asami reached out for it and brushed her thumb against it. 

After a few more moments, Asami raised the arm rest separating herself from Korra and slowly dropped down into Korra’s lap. She rested her head on Korra’s sweats and snuggled in closer. 

Korra watched her. Asami would always do this when she got tired. She would nestle up to Korra and fall asleep almost instantly. Korra remembered how she would always trace circles on Asami’s back. It would help her to relax, and Asami was always so tense from working that Korra would want to help in any way she could. Now, she was hesitant, afraid to touch her fiancé. 

Asami seemingly read her mind, “Can you do the thing?” She whispered. 

Korra nodded. Then she realized that Asami was facing away from her and so she couldn’t see the gesture. So Korra mumbled a quick yes and slid her right arm up Asami’s back. Her fingers were trembling against Asami’s pale skin, and she slowly traced circles. Korra would usually rest her other hand on Asami’s shoulder, but she couldn’t do that any longer.

Asami suddenly shifted under Korra, and turned around in her lap. Korra’s right hand slid out from Asami’s back, and she felt a nervousness creep into her, “Did I do something?”

“Oh no,” Asami assured quickly. She peered up at Korra and settled on looking at her blue-eyes. “I just…I’m so happy you’re here.”

'I’m so happy to be here. I missed you so much. I love you so much. I wouldn’t have made it to the helicopter with Kai had I not thought of you back home.’ Korra wanted to say, but instead she mumbled out a simple, “Yeah.”

Asami broke eye contact, and Korra mentally kicked herself. ‘You stupid idiot. She’s all you have left, don’t drive her away. She’s trying to help. Just try Korra.’ “Sorry.” Korra mumbled.

Asami gazed back up at her, “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

Korra sighed again, reaching over and resting her hand on the gauze of her left arm. 

Asami reached over and pulled Korra’s hand away. She nearly reached out for the gauze herself—to show Korra that it didn’t matter to Asami. She didn’t care that part of her arm was gone. If anything it made her love Korra more, but she didn’t know how Korra would feel about Asami touching it. Maybe after Korra had more time, and she could open up more, then it would be okay. She knew she couldn’t rush this kind of thing. The doctor and Tonraq had both urged Asami to just be ready for anything and to be patient. “You know, it’s okay to not be okay. I get that, and I’m not going anywhere.”

There was a silence that hung in the air for a few moments. Korra was trying to believe the words Asami had spoken. In fact, Korra was just trying in general to be Korra and Asami could tell by the way her lips pursed together and by the way her right hand was ringing and pushing against itself nervously. 

“Okay,” Korra breathed eventually. “Get some rest,” 

Asami relented, turning back over and laying her head back in Korra’s lap. Korra ran her hand up Asami’s shirt and began tracing circles on her back once again. It wasn’t long until Asami’s breaths evened out and she fell asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

The rest of the plane ride consisted of Asami sleeping peacefully in Korra’s lap. Korra was tired, but she didn’t let sleep overcome her. Asami looked peaceful, and Korra hadn’t seen her like this since before she left on her tour. Most of the time, Korra realized, Asami waited until Korra fell asleep. She tried to make sure Korra was resting peacefully before she let herself drift off into slumber. Korra wished she didn’t, she wished Asami wasn’t so worried. 

Korra reached out and hesitantly touched one of her fingers to Asami’s ruby red lips. The engineer looked at ease. There were no creases in her face to indicate worry or sadness like there had been so many days before, and her lips weren’t pursed together in concern. The only problem was Asami’s eyes were closed. Korra loved her eyes, she was infatuated by them. They were so striking, so bold, and they could pull Korra in and never let her go. Korra wished she could look at them every second of every day. 

Soon after the two of them started dating, Korra had come to realize that Asami’s eyes gave way to everything about her. The engineer could keep a poker face, and she could hold her composure like no other, but once you could read her eyes you had her. Korra loved that she could read Asami’s eyes.

The plane tipped and touched ground, bouncing a few times before slowing to a halt. Korra sighed, realizing that she would have to wake Asami. She reached her tan hand down and gently shook her shoulder. “’Sami,”

Asami groaned, rubbing at her eyes before cracking them open. “What?”

“We landed.” Korra stated simply. She let go of Asami’s shoulder and watched as Asami pulled herself up into a seated position.

“I can’t believe I slept that long, and through the storm apparently.” She mumbled. She rubbed at her eyes once more before standing up and gathering their things. “That means it’s a little past 9:00. I’m starving. Are you hungry? We haven’t eaten yet.”

Korra stomach let out a loud growl, answering the question for her. Asami began laughing and Korra managed a small smile. “I guess so,” She said. She stood up and reached for her bag. Asami pulled it away from her.

“I’ve got it, don’t worry.” Asami stated.

Korra felt her eyebrows knit together. Korra would always carry their things. She would hold Asami’s purse or carry Asami’s blueprints or carry around all their things when they would travel. “I can get it.” She argued.

Asami shook her head, “You let me use your lap half the trip, the least I can do is carry our stuff.”

Korra shook her head, “I always carry our stuff.” She reached out her right hand.

“Exactly, and it’s my turn to return the favor.”

Korra knew she shouldn’t be, but she was offended that Asami wasn’t allowing her to carry their things. “I’m not helpless.”

Asami sighed. “I never said you were, and you know that’s not what I was insinuating.” 

“Wasn’t it!?” Korra snapped.

Asami’s eyes widened. When she looked to her fiancé, she was not expecting the defensive and nearly aggressive look in Korra’s eyes. Asami dropped the bags and huffed, deciding an argument was not the best idea. “Fine, take our stuff.” 

Korra nodded, and Asami began walking out of the plane. She tried her best not to look back at Korra, but once she reached the exit, she couldn’t help but look over her shoulder. Korra had hoisted the backpack over her shoulders and had tried to maneuver two bags over her right arm and one over her shoulder. She made it a few feet before one of the bags slipped from her grip and smacked the ground. 

The sound was loud and echoed through the silence. Asami didn’t know whether to ignore what just happened or go in and help. Quite honestly, she didn’t know if Korra would become defensive once again. She decided to turn back around, give Korra a moment, and see if she could make it out with their things.

There was a shuffle and Korra grunted, trying to throw the bag back over her shoulder while holding onto the other things. She stumbled back a few inches, trying to balance the bag and once again failing as it fell back onto the ground. 

Asami turned all the way around as she heard the bag hit the ground once again. She watched as Korra dropped the rest of Asami’s luggage before slamming the bag that was once on her shoulders onto the ground belligerently. Korra’s feet slid out from underneath her, and she growled angrily as she pushed her hand into her face in humiliation “Stupid, stupid, ugh!” Korra muttered to herself.

Asami couldn’t stop herself from walking back over to Korra. The engineer felt her throat clench, tears threatening to surface, but she pushed them away. Crying would only make Korra feel worse. She took a deep breath to compose herself and squatted down in front of Korra. 

Korra didn’t look up at her, she was ashamed for failing miserably at doing something as small as carrying their luggage and she was also mortified at her earlier outburst. She didn’t know why she had snapped the way she did, but she couldn’t bring herself to apologize to the woman beside her.

She felt manicured nails grab at her wrist, and gently tug her hand away from her face. Korra looked down at the ground. She felt hot tears brim at her eyes. Her mind was vividly aware of the fact that her left arm was burning and her muscles were aching much more than before.

“Hey,” Asami spoke, snapping Korra out of her thoughts. “Look at me.” Her pale hand gripped Korra’s chin and pulled at it. 

Korra let her face be guided and blue eyes met green. Asami’s thumbs wiped at Korra’s cheeks and Korra felt her eyes drifting down again in embarrassment.

“You realize you probably would’ve dropped those if you had three arm right?” Asami mumbled. Her thumb was running circles on Korra’s cheek.

Korra didn’t respond, she simply reached out her right arm and went to rub at where her left arm stopped.

“Stop that,” Asami’s voice was stern, and it nearly sounded hurt at what Korra was going to do. Korra’s eyes drifted back up to see the look of sadness across Asami’s face and felt guilt rush through her. “It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change anything.”

‘It does change things. It changes everything. I can’t hug you. I can’t pick you up in my arms. I can’t hold your hand. I can’t carry our stupid luggage. You can’t put a ring on my finger. We can’t do things we’re supposed to do.’

“Let’s go home. I want us to cuddle like we normally do. We couldn’t in that stupid twin size bed.”

Korra nodded numbly. 

Asami pulled Korra to her feet, wiped at the injured girl’s eyes once more, and then held out Korra’s bag for her. Korra took it hesitantly, and slid it over her shoulders. Asami then handed Korra one of her clothing bag, and Korra gripped it in her right hand. The engineer smiled, nodded, and grabbed her other two bags before the two of them exited the plane and headed home.


	10. Chapter 10

Asami walked through the doors of their home, dropping her bags a foot inside the door and running to the kitchen. It was way too late for them to be up, but Asami’s stomach was growling uncontrollably and Korra’s had been grumbling the whole trip home. “What do you want me to whip up?” Asami said brightly. She had long since gotten over Korra’s outburst on the airplane. Korra hadn’t spoken since they left, but Asami could tell by the way she hesitantly gripped her hand that Korra was sorry. It was understandable, Asami reminded herself, Korra had to do everything different now. It had only been a little over a week, and this kind of think took time. 

“Hmm?” Korra murmured. She let the bags slide to the floor by Asami’s and walked through their home slowly. Her feet quietly walked across the wood floors and Asami watched her curiously. Korra’s blue eyes inspected their kitchen, the pots and pans hung atop their island, the knives on the wall by the sink.

“What would you like to eat, babe?” Asami asked again. Korra walked up next to her and pulled open one of the drawers, spotting their eating utensils before letting it slide close once more.

“I’m not really hungry anymore.” She said softly. 

Asami exhaled, “Are you sure? I was thinking pancakes. I know they’re your favorite.”

Korra shook her head, “That’s okay. It’s really late to make pancakes.”

Asami visible slopped down, leaning over the island in defeat. “Okay. Well I guess I’ll just throw some ramen noodles on the stove. I’ll make you some, you need to at least try and eat.”

Korra nodded. Asami watched her slowly walk out of the kitchen and through the living room. Her hands trailed across the table and skimmed their bookshelf before she went into their bedroom. The engineer sighed, pouring water in a pot and turning on the stove. 

Asami had finished the small job of making ramen noodles by the time Korra walked back into the room. She pulled herself onto the barstool before pulling on the left side of her sweatshirt. Asami fished the noodles into two bowls, tossing forks in each of them, before rounding the counter and taking a seat next to her fiancé. 

Asami started in on the noodles, her bar stool only a few mere inches from Korra’s. Korra twirled a fork full of noodles around on her fork, leaned back and looked over to Asami.

“What is it?” Asami asked, watching the flicker of hesitation in Korra’s eyes.

Korra let her fork fall, pushing the bowl away slightly. “Everything is the same.”

Asami quirked an eyebrow, “What do you mean?” She took a large chomp out of her noodles and set the bowl down.

Korra rubbed at the back of her neck, she didn’t know what she was getting at. She didn’t know why it mattered. It just did. “The house,” She breathed, “It’s the same as when I left.”

Asami reached out and grabbed Korra’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I-I don’t know. I just feel… different and I thought that…” ‘that this might be different,’ Korra looked over and met sad, green eyes. She wished they didn’t look so sad. They didn’t need to be. They were sad because of her. 

Asami wracked her brain for the right words to say. How she could put into words what she felt about all of this. “I know you feel different.” Asami began her words thick with emotion, “I don’t know how you couldn’t.”

Korra nodded, happy that at least Asami understood how Korra felt just so unlike herself. 

“But that doesn’t mean that everything will have to be different.”

Korra opened her mouth to contest Asami’s words. ‘How could everything not be different?’ 

Asami stopped Korra before she started, however, and began again, “My feelings for you aren’t different. Our home isn’t different. Our friends are still our friends, our parents still love you. That’s all the same. I know that stuff right now isn’t easy,” ‘It’s hard, so hard, and we’ve just began. I just want you to hold me and to kiss me and I just want you to be okay. I just want you to tell me what you’re feeling’, “but we’re here. I love you and as for the things that have to be different… we can figure out how to do them another way, together.” 

Korra’s eyes blurred, and she rubbed her hand across her face vigorously, “That’s,” ‘a lot easier said than done’, Korra almost said, but she stopped herself. Asami was looking at her desperately, and Korra loved her so much. She couldn’t have Asami think she was too far gone, “thank you.” 

Asami leaned in and wrapped her arms around Korra tightly. She squeezed her and buried her pale face in the crook of Korra’s neck. Korra sighed. Asami was so warm and love was radiating off of her. The tan woman tried to return the hug the best she could, her left arm just reaching to the side of Asami’s back. 

Korra realized in that moment that the woman she was clutching onto for dear life was the only thing keeping her here. Asami was the only one keeping Korra from falling off and becoming a lost cause. Maybe she already was a lost cause, but she had to try hold on, because of Asami.

The thought scared the living hell out of her, and Korra sucked in a breath suddenly, burying her face further into Asami’s hair. Asami squeezed tighter, if that was even possible, and waited for Korra to let go. She didn’t dare release her first. This was the first time Korra had spoken anything about how she was feeling to her, and Asami would hold her all through the night if she needed to just to ensure that Korra knew Asami was there.

Eventually, Korra let go. Asami trailed her hand from Korra’s waist up to her shoulder, feeling Korra shiver slightly. She smiled, ‘I do miss that.’ “Are you going to eat anything else?”

Korra shook her head. “You should sleep.” 

“And you shouldn’t?” Asami questioned. 

Korra ran a hand through her short hair before hopping off of the barstool. “I’ll go to sleep too.” She said. 

Asami nodded, getting off of her barstool and following Korra into the bedroom. 

Asami changed into her pajamas and watched as Korra slipped into bed, her sweatshirt still dangling off of her. The two of them crawled into bed, the covers curling over them and keeping them warm. 

“It’s so nice to be home with you in our own bed.” Asami murmured sweetly.

Korra looked at her, her cheeks flushing slightly. “Much comfier than the hospital bed,” she agreed.

The two of them fell fast asleep a short time later.


	11. Chapter 11

Two weeks slowly went on, and Korra had barely left the house. Asami had gotten her out to the grocery store once, but Korra made sure to wear a long sleeved shirt that went far past her arms in an attempt to cover where the left one came to an abrupt end. It was hot out, and Korra’s shirt was drenched in sweat by the time they made it home. 

~flashback~

“You don’t need to wear a long sleeve shirt.” Asami had said softly.

“Yes I do,” Korra argued. Her voice was defensive as she walked into the kitchen and set down her armful of groceries.

“Why? Why does it matter Korra? I don’t care, other people shouldn’t either.”

“I care,” Korra said shortly, “and some people aren’t as understanding as you.” Then she disappeared into the bedroom.

~end flashback~

Asami had thought about a prosthetic. Korra hadn’t mentioned it, but Asami had done plenty of research. Soon enough Asami had begun drawing up a blueprint of her own. She wanted it to look real-no- she wanted it to feel as real as it could for Korra. It would be the best, the top of the line, and it would be all that Asami could make it. 

Today, Korra hadn’t pulled herself from bed. She was awake, but she hadn’t said a word all morning. Asami had become worried when Korra would not even acknowledge her: not a head nod, or a grunt, or anything at all. Usually, Asami could get through to her and pull her back out of her thoughts. It had been late into the afternoon though, and Asami was so troubled that she called Tonraq. 

Tonraq and Senna were staying in a hotel only a few blocks away, but Korra had refused to see them. She had refused to see Mako, Bolin, and Opal as well. Asami knew that it was hard to see people when she felt so different and was dealing with so much, but these were her friends and family and they would love her no matter what. All they wanted was to be there for her. Korra just wouldn’t let them. Asami was frustrated about it, but she tried to understand and give Korra time to figure it out and be ready to see them. 

She was just too concerned now though, and didn’t know how to sort out the situation without some help. So she didn’t think twice when she picked up the phone.

“Tonraq?” Asami asked into the phone. She was sitting on their back porch to ensure that Korra didn’t hear her. Although, Asami realized, Korra would know that she called Tonraq when he arrived at their home so abruptly. “It’s Asami.”

There was shuffling, and Asami heard Senna’s hopeful voice in the background. ‘They probably think Korra wants to see them’. “Asami, hi. How are you?”

Asami was grateful for that, for Tonraq to ask how she was. It was hard, and she felt like she was falling apart. Sometimes she just needed to not be okay and not be strong, and Asami really thought that Tonraq understood that from the several conversations they had had since Korra came back home. “I’m hanging in there.” She said, rubbing the bridge of her nose and trying to pick her next words carefully, “I’m calling about Korra though.”

“Oh, really?” Tonraq tried not to sound hopeful, but Asami knew that he just wanted Korra to need to see him.

“Yeah, she hasn’t left the bed all day or said a single word to me. I mean—sometimes she will do this where she kind of shuts herself off, but it’s usually only for an hour or two. It’s been nearly nine hours, I counted, and I’m starting to really worry.” Asami hurried.

“Okay,” Tonraq paused, “Can I come over? I know she doesn’t want to see me-”

“It’s not that she doesn’t want to see you,” Asami interjected, “You know she won’t see anyone right now.”

Tonraq sighed, seeming to remember that he shouldn’t be offended—this had nothing to do with him, “I know.”

“But yes, please come. I don’t know what to do and I’m afraid if I try to get her to talk to me that things will just get worse.”

“I’m on my way.” Tonraq said. Asami heard Senna mumble something in the background, “I don’t think I’m going to get anywhere without Senna though.”

“Of course, please have her come. It’ll be nice to see her.” To see anyone. Asami hadn’t seen any of her loved ones since she returned home. 

“We will be there in ten minutes.” 

~~~~

Asami had the door open the moment Tonraq and Senna knocked. Tonraq had come in quickly, his face etched with worry. Senna followed behind him, seeming a bit more apprehensive and nervous to see Korra. Asami knew it would be hard, not seeing her for so long. Not only that, but this wasn’t the happy, over-zealous, and silly Korra that they all remembered. 

“She’s in the bedroom still.” Asami murmured, “I went and checked on her before you all came over. She still isn’t saying or doing anything.”

Tonraq nodded, and then walked to the small bedroom the engineer and Korra shared. Asami began to follow, but Senna grabbed ahold of her and pulled her into a bone crushing hug before she could. Asami was surprised at the action, but welcomed it nonetheless. She pulled Senna tighter, and before the engineer could stop herself, tears were steadily streaming down both her cheeks.

Senna pulled back a few moments later, giving Asami a kiss to the cheek and smiling at her sadly. “How are you holding up?” Senna asked.

“Oh I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” Asami replied quickly.

“You’re going to be my daughter-in-law soon enough, of course I’m going to worry about you!” Senna laughed. She gave Asami’s shoulders a gentle squeeze and Asami couldn’t help but smile at her. She was going to marry Korra.

Being Korra’s wife, it still seemed so surreal. She knew things weren’t good right now, and that it wasn’t a good time to be planning a wedding and thinking of all the things they will do together, but when Senna reminded her, she couldn’t help herself. She was going to marry the girl she was madly in love with. She was going to help her get better and they would be happy together. “I can’t wait for that.” Asami finally told Senna.

“I know Korra can’t either. Once stuff gets a little bit more manageable, things will be back on track and I can help you plan!”

“Yes, I would love the help! You know how Korra is with those kinds of things.” 

“Oh trust me, I do. She doesn’t do shopping or fashion or anything of the sorts.” 

The two of them laughed, and Asami couldn’t help but pull Senna back into a small hug. 

“She’s going to be okay.” Senna told Asami suddenly, and the conversation became much heavier in an instant.

“I know she is. She’s Korra after all.” Asami said, like it was the easiest answer in the world. “I’ve just…I’ve never seen her so broken and it scares me. I love her and want her to get better.”

Senna hugged Asami a little tighter, “I know you do. She loves you too, and she will get better. This kind of thing—I figured out with Tonraq—it’s extremely hard to talk about. She just has to get things sorted out in her mind, and then address them. It may take some time, but once she’s ready, she will talk and she will get better.”

“I can wait, however long it takes.” Asami told her.

“Good, now let’s go see how Tonraq and she are coming along.” Senna nodded, and Asami quickly strode into her bedroom. She was met with Korra, who had now moved from the fetal position into a sitting position against the headboard. Tonraq was saying something to her, Asami wasn’t sure what, but he had settled himself on the edge of the mattress. One of his hands was gripping Korra’s leg comfortingly, and the other was on one of Korra’s shoulders.

Asami noticed the dark rings under Korra’s eyes, and her skin looked so pale compared to its usually dark tint. Her hair was sprawled all across her face, and she looked small in her large sweatshirt. Korra seemed to notice her a few moments later, and Asami was met with a small smile.

Tonraq looked over, flashing Asami and Senna a big grin. The two women met Tonraq and Korra and settled onto the bed. Senna was gripping Korra’s other leg, and her face was so happy that Korra wished she wouldn’t have made them stay away so long. 

“I’m sorry I was so…out of it.” Korra told Asami, “Dad came in and seemed to snap me out of it.” 

“You don’t need to apologize to me.” Asami assured, laying a soft kiss on Korra’s forehead. “I’ve told you that. I’m just happy you’re doing better now.”

Korra nodded before her eyes drifted to Senna. She looked away, running her good hand through her hair nervously before giving her mother a sheepish smile. “Mom, I missed you.”

“Honey, I missed you so much.” Senna replied eagerly, leaning down and wrapping her hands around Korra tightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what ya think :)


	12. Chapter 12

Korra sat on the barstool in the kitchen, picking at her plate of eggs and bacon. Asami had already finished her breakfast, and was watching Korra intently. “Still not much of an appetite?” She asked her fiancé.

“Mm, not really,” Korra mumbled, setting her fork onto the plate and looking up at Asami. Asami reached out and ran her thumb under Korra’s eyes, the purple underneath them showing just how tired the dark-skinned girl was.

“And you’re sure you’re not tired either?” 

“I’m fine, really.” Korra stated, reaching her arm up and pulling Asami’s hand down. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I’ll always worry about you.” Asami’s voice was soft and honest, and she gave Korra a small smile. 

Korra nodded, not sure how to respond.

“Tonraq and Senna should be over soon. I just have to run to work for a few hours, it won’t take long. If you need me back here or need anything at all please call me.”

Korra chuckled, her voice more sardonic than she meant it to be, “I’m an adult Asami. I can stay at our place by myself. I can take care of myself.”

“I know that,” Asami’s hand made its way up to Korra thigh and absentmindedly ran up and down it in an effort to comfort herself as well as Korra. She wouldn’t admit to Korra that she didn’t want her alone; Asami would barely admit it to herself. “I just know that Senna wants to make you a nice lunch and Tonraq wanted to talk to you before he takes you to therapy.”

“I don’t need therapy.” Korra bent her head down, letting her hair fall across her face.

Asami sighed. This was how their conversations had been going majority wise. Korra was short, vague, and close-minded. Asami knew it was hard. She always understood where Korra was coming from. Recently, it had been harder for Asami to keep calm though. She just wanted Korra to try and get better. She wanted Korra to talk to her and open up and let them be okay again. She missed the two of them, together. She missed the Korra that would kiss her and love her. “I know,” the engineer paused, letting her hand stop its movements and giving Korra’s thigh a gentle squeeze, “It wouldn’t hurt to try and go once. I mean...you never know. You could end up thinking that it really makes a difference.”

Korra’s eyes were downcast when she looked back up at Asami. She grabbed her plate and scooted off the barstool, dropping the rest of her breakfast into the trash on the way to the sink. “It’s not like I have much of an option. Dad’s driving me.”

“If you don’t want to go, I’ll call Tonraq and tell him to forget about it.” Asami needed Korra to go, more importantly Korra needed to go. Korra couldn’t be forced though, that wouldn’t do anything but make matters worse.

Korra watched as Asami set her thumb and index finger on the bridge of her nose and rubbed at it, obviously frustrated. Her stomach suddenly dropped and she felt her eyes soften. She was doing it again, pushing Asami away and hurting her. She didn’t want to do that, she hated doing that. “Do you want me to go?” Korra asked suddenly, her tone much different than it was a few moments earlier.

Asami looked up, spotting the look in Korra’s eyes and feeling a bit of a weight lift off of her shoulders. “I just want you to be okay Korra. I don’t want to make you do anything that you don’t want to do, but I just want you to feel better.”

“I know,” Korra reached her hand out and rubbed at where her arm stopped, “you didn’t answer my question. Do you want me to go?”

“I’ve read that talking about it helps, and I know that you might not want to share what happened with me. Which is okay, I understand. So I just…I think that maybe talking to someone who knows how this stuff works—that it might help. What I’m saying is, yes. I want you to go.”

Korra forced a smile on her face, “Okay, then I’ll go.”

Asami returned the smile with all the more vigor, and Korra felt a little bit better. She felt a little less lost when Asami rounded the island in their kitchen and wrapped her arms around her. She felt warm, and she felt like maybe she was supposed to make it out of that Humvee so she could be with Asami.

Asami leaned down and pressed her lips against Korra’s. Korra was surprised at the amount of force Asami put into the kiss, but like habit, she found herself returning the gesture. She felt the pain and emptiness inside her begin to melt away and her hand snaked up to the back of Asami’s neck so she could kiss her harder. 

Then Korra remembered the large scar across her stomach and the half of her arm that was missing, and she felt her grip on Asami’s neck loosen. How could Asami want that? How could she want all the shattered pieces that were left of her? Korra was broken and battered, and Asami was beautiful. Asami was perfect and she deserved perfect. Korra wasn’t perfect. 

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and Korra felt herself pulling away from Asami’s lips. Asami growled in contest, and Korra gave her a gentle peck on the lips before going to open the door. She was met with her mother and father, pulling her into a bear hug and showering her in kisses. When she was released, she saw Asami throw on her jacket and grab her suitcase. 

“Okay, I’ll be back in a few hours. About the same time you’re home, Kor.” 

Korra nodded.

Tonraq and Senna hugged Asami before bidding her farewell. Korra did the same, and then the engineer was out the door and on the way to her work. If you could call going and building her fiancé a prosthetic work, then that’s what she would be doing. Asami had put the final touches on her blueprint late last night when she saw that Korra had wandered to the living room to watch TV instead of sleep. So Asami found herself sitting on the chair across from her scribbling down notes. She just hoped that the prosthetic would come out the way she wanted. Maybe it could help bring Korra back to her.


	13. Chapter 13

“Honey, this is your favorite.” Senna urged, watching as her daughter pushed the food around on her plate.

“Yeah Ma, I know. Thanks a lot for making it, but I’m just not that hungry.” Korra said monotonously. 

Senna took a deep breath and gave her husband a look. “Well, I guess you can have it for leftovers. That way Asami doesn’t have to make dinner.”

Korra nodded. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.”

Tonraq pulled himself to his feet, burping and rubbing at his stomach. He chuckled to himself, and shot Korra a sideways glance to see if she found his actions humorous. Korra was unfortunately entranced at the gauze underneath her sweatshirt, and was pulling at it through her sleeve.

“What’s the matter, does it hurt?” Tonraq questioned her.

Korra’s eyes snapped up at him when he questioned her, and she pulled her right arm from her sleeve and nervously scratched at her neck. “No, it doesn’t hurt.”

Tonraq walked over to her, not completely convinced. Without asking (because he knew Korra would probably say no if he did ask), he grabbed at her left sleeve and rolled it up high enough so he could get a good look of the gauze. “You got the stitches out a bit ago, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” she mumbled, looking away from her arm and finding an interesting piece of lint on the ground to focus on.

“So why do you still have the gauze on?” 

Korra shrugged, “I don’t know.” Tonraq was going to drop the subject. He could tell that Korra was uncomfortable, but his daughter’s voice cut in, “I guess I don’t like looking at it.”

“You don’t like looking at the mark of a warrior?” He asked almost immediately, his voice sure and strong. “It should remind you that you’re a survivor.”

Korra smiled a bit at her father’s encouragement, but it quickly fell. “Maybe it should, but it doesn’t. All it does is remind me of the friends that I couldn’t save.”

The room fell silent, and Korra sighed. She had a knack for downing the mood ever since she got back. She suddenly felt Senna’s arms wrapping around her in a tight hug. She tensed at first, but then sank into it, and Tonraq wrapped his arms around the two of them. “They knew you did everything you could. You know that too, it’ll just take some time to accept it.” Senna mumbled.

Korra looked over at her mother, tears brimming her eyes. She nodded, not sure if she was ready to start believing what her mother said. They fell out of the hug a few moments later and Senna spoke up once more. “I hate for the two of you to leave, but Korra your session is in half an hour, and you may want to get going.”

Korra nodded, and Tonraq grabbed his keys before leading Korra out to her garage. Although their home was on the smaller size, Asami had made sure to upgrade their garage in order to work on her cars. Korra stepped out into the large space and nearly chuckled at the tools Asami had laying throughout the area. 

Her eyes drifted to her motorcycle, which was neatly placed near the front of the garage. It looked like Asami had tinkered with it a bit, and Korra was grinning at the memory of taking Asami on it the first date they had. Asami had been impressed with Korra’s driving, but had noticed a few things in the motorcycle that were ‘less than perfect’ by Sato standards. Ever since, Korra had let Asami tinker with her motorcycle to make sure it was the best it could be. 

Tonraq’s hand was on Korra’s shoulder, and she looked over to meet his gaze. “Looks like I’m going to have to get rid of that, huh?” Korra said glumly.

Tonraq shook his head, “Nonsense. You don’t have to stop riding it either. It’s been awhile since I’ve road that thing, and I’ve missed it.”

Korra quirked an eyebrow, “You really want to drive it?”

“Yeah, come on. Let’s pull up to therapy in style, shall we?” Tonraq left her side for a few moments and came back, shoving the helmet over her head playfully before putting a helmet on his head as well.

Meanwhile…

Asami tightened another screw on her project before setting the screwdriver down. So far she had managed to get down the basic structure of the hand and forearm she was creating. Each piece had to be precise for Korra, and she would make sure it was perfect. Asami sat back, admiring her work and making a few minor adjustments. Her mind drifted to an article she read the other day while Korra and her were in the living room. She wondered if Korra would want a dog. They had talked about getting one before she left, and now may be an even better time to get one once she read all of the positive effects it could have on Korra… 

Her phone began vibrating in her back pocket, and Asami pulled it up to her ear quickly, not bothering to look at the caller ID, “Hello?” She asked, peering down at the metal before her.

“Asami!” It was Bolin, Asami could tell immediately, “Whatcha up to?”

She couldn’t help but smile at his cheery voice, “I’m just working on a little project right now.”

“Cool, cool,” Bolin replied, “How are you?”

Asami sat back in her chair, stopping her tinkering and focusing on the phone call with Bolin. “I’m doing okay.” She said, “How are you?”

“I’m great!” Asami heard a voice in the back, assuming it was probably Opal. “Oh right,” he mumbled, more to Opal than Asami.

“Bolin, you there?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m here.” She heard him chuckle awkwardly, “So I know that Korra isn’t really wanting to see anyone right now.” 

Asami sighed, “Yeah, not really. She’s still having a really hard time.”

“Like, how hard?” Bolin asked, but then there was a fumbling and an ow and Asami made the assumption that Opal probably hit him. “Never mind, uhm, that’s not what I was calling to ask about.”

“Oh?” Asami asked curiously, “Okay, what’s up then?”

“Well, Opal made some food for you guys. Also, I just got the new Nuktuk movie that Korra was raving about, and Mako—well Mako is just kind of here. Anyways, we just really want to come and see the two of you. We haven’t seen Korra since she left and we haven’t seen you since she got back.”

Asami opened her mouth to say something—to try and explain that Korra wasn’t even comfortable with Asami right now, and that it really wasn’t the best idea. “That’s really sweet of you all-”

“I know you’re going to say no, and I totally get it. I know you’re just trying to look out for Korra and I know she doesn’t want to see us, but I just feel like if we come…I don’t know, she’ll feel a little more like herself.”

Asami pondered the idea. He could be right. Maybe if Korra had a little push, it would help to get things back on track. Still, she was hesitant because she didn’t want to push Korra further away. “I don’t know Bolin…”

“If we get there, and she kicks us out, that’s fine. We will all leave. Can we at least…try though? I mean…I just—we just want her to know that we’re here and that things don’t have to be different, you know?” His voice was so pleading, and so sincere that Asami cracked.

She inhaled, “Okay,” her voice was quick and she heard Bolin give a yelp of excitement. “Just…be a little cautious when you get there, and be ready. She isn’t the same Korra that left on tour a few months ago.”

“We will!” He cried, overjoyed, “when should we be there?”

Asami peered down at her clock, seeing that it was already 2:45 in the afternoon. Korra would be done with therapy in a mere 15 minutes. “Well, Korra and I should be home in about half an hour, but maybe you guys should come at 6?”

“6 sounds perfect! See you then!”

The enthusiasm in his voice was so overpowering that Asami couldn’t help but giggle, “Okay Bo, see you then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Asami is thinking about it. Maybe we will see Naga in the near future?


	14. Chapter 14

Asami picked Korra up from therapy right in time. Korra was walking out the door when the engineer’s Satomobile pulled up to the curb. Korra looked less than thrilled as her feet dragged up to the automobile and she slipped inside and buckled herself in without a word. Asami pulled off and made her way back to their home. “So, how was it?” Asami asked hesitantly, turning down the radio a bit so her voice could be heard.

“It was…interesting.” Korra said simply, looking over at Asami. 

“I hope it was a good interesting at least?” 

Korra shrugged, turning her head back out towards the road and reaching out to turn up the radio. Asami sighed and continued towards the house.

For the few hours that the two had alone, they sat at the TV. Asami was grateful for the voices filtering through the television set, as it was the only thing stopping the house from complete silence. Asami was more than surprised when Korra had taken a seat next to her and intertwined their fingers. She had smiled brightly at Korra and Korra had even lightly kissed her cheek. 

‘Maybe it was a good interesting, then.’ Asami thought about the therapy session. 

The doorbell rang at 6:00 on the dot, and Korra looked over at Asami. “Is someone supposed to be coming?”

Asami felt her cheeks flush with nervousness and scratched the back of her neck. “Yeah, uhm Bolin called me today.”

Korra’s hand quickly left Asami’s, and a look of horror crossed Korra’s face. Asami felt her stomach drop at the action. “They aren’t here are they?” Korra uttered.

“I tried to tell them that you still didn’t want to see people, but they were persistent.” Asami tried to reason.

Korra found herself edging as far as she could back into the couch cushions. “I-I don’t want them here Asami.”

‘Shit, this was a bad idea. Such a bad idea.’ “Korra, come on. They love you. You don’t need to be like this.” Asami tried, regretting her decision to allow them to come over in this moment. She reached out for Korra’s shoulder but the woman flinched and moved away.

Korra shook her head vigorously, and Asami watched as Korra’s breaths left her quickly and harshly. “Hey, hey calm down.” Asami tried to soothe her fiancé, but it was no use, there was a sheen of sweat breaking out across Korra’s face and she looked utterly terrified. 

“T-They can’t see me like this.” Korra said desperately between breaths, “It’s humiliating. I can’t even get out of bed in the morning! I can’t even tell you anything! I don’t want them to see how weak I am!” She cried, tears welling up in her eyes before they quickly made their way down both of her tan cheeks.

Asami gripped Korra’s shoulders once more, not letting the short-haired girl out of her grasps this time, even when she tried to pull away. “Breathe Korra, just breathe.”

Korra closed her eyes, “I-I can’t.”

“Yes you can, you’re okay. Just one breath at a time.”

Korra tried her hardest to even out her gasps. Asami’s hand slipped to Korra’s back and began rubbing small circles, and she waited patiently for Korra’s breaths to even out.

“I need you to listen to what I’m about to tell you.” Asami’s voice was stern, but not harsh.

Korra didn’t seem to hear her, her eyes were still closed tightly and she was gripping her left arm tightly.

“Korra,” Asami said once more, giving her shoulder a squeeze. Korra’s eyes shot open, and she met Asami’s gaze, “Listen to me, alright?”

“Okay,” Korra mumbled, still shaken at the aspect of their friends waiting outside the front door.

“You are not weak.” Asami’s voice was thick with emotion, and she felt tears welling behind her eyes. She tried her best to hold them back, but it was no use. They were falling quickly and steadily down her pale cheeks, “Don’t you dare be humiliated by this. You risked your life for all the people outside that door, for me, for your family, for everyone. You were injured helping people and you should be proud because you are stronger and braver than all of us.” Asami paused, taking a deep breath and wiping at her eyes quickly, “Right now, you’re not okay. You’re getting better though, and you’re still in there Korra. I see glimpses of you and I know that you are going to be okay. So don’t you dare give up on me, and don’t you dare let yourself think that you are anything but resilient.”

Korra felt her heart sink into her stomach as tears rolled down Asami’s face. She reached out her hand and gripped the back of Asami’s neck, pulling the pale girl up against her into a hug. “Okay,” she said into Asami’s neck, “just…just don’t cry.” Her tan fingers threaded in the back of Asami’s hair, and she felt Asami pull herself closer and wrap her arms tightly around Korra’s frame.

“Sorry,” Asami mumbled softly, feeling her stomach unknot itself as Korra held her. She ran her hands up and down Korra’s sides comfortingly. They stayed for a few more moments before Korra pulled back a bit.

“So uhm, there are people outside our door.” Korra said softly.

Asami laughed and pulled herself off of Korra. “Yeah,” she stood up, “so…is it okay if I get it?”

Korra took a deep breath, pulled her sweatshirt further over her left arm, and then nodded. “Go ahead.”

“Okay,” Asami made her way to the door and wiped underneath her eyes one last time, hoping that it wasn’t completely apparent that both her and Korra had just been crying. She swung the door open, spotting Mako standing up awkwardly on the porch while Bolin and Opal were sitting on the steps. 

“Asami!” Mako said excitedly, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a small envelope. “Here, uhm, I got this for you and Korra.”

Asami smiled warmly and nodded, “Thank you Mako, that’s really sweet of you. You all can come in if you’d like.”

Mako nodded and made his way in, while Bolin jumped up from the steps, racing inside the house with the new Nuktuk movie in his arms. Opal followed in tow with a plate full of food, giving Asami a side hug and then going to the kitchen and setting down the food. Asami followed Opal into the kitchen, which sat directly behind the living room, and peered over to watch and make sure it that everything went alright with Korra.

Bolin and Mako had made their way to the short haired girl in a matter of seconds. “Kor!” Bolin called out loudly, setting the movie down and encasing Korra in a large bear hug. Korra’s laugh rang out loudly, and Asami found herself smiling brightly.

Mako followed suit and gave Korra a hug, his arms wrapped tightly around her. “It’s so good to see you,” Mako said, a hint of sorrow in his voice. 

Korra was released from Mako’s grip and began pulling at her sleeve nervously. “It’s great to see you all too. I’m sorry it’s taken so long-”

“No, no need for explanation.” Bolin said quickly. Mako agreed immediately and then the three of them were sitting on the couch. “All we need to worry about is watching the new Nuktuk movie that I bought!”

Korra’s eyes lit up at the words. “You got the new one?” She asked incredulously.

“Hell yeah! I even convinced Mako to watch the other ones, so he’s all up to speed! Now he won’t be super annoying and ask a bunch of questions about it!”

“Hey! I’m not annoying!” Mako defended.

“Ehhh…you do sometimes get a little annoying.” Bolin stated.

Korra laughed.

Opal made her way back from the kitchen and laid her hand on Asami’s shoulder. “I put the dinner in the fridge, so we can eat it whenever.” 

Asami nodded, “Thanks so much. We really do appreciate all of this.”

Opal smiled, “We really do miss you guys. We’re just happy we get to see you.”

Asami felt her eyes well up with tears once more. “We’ve missed you all so much too.” She cursed herself at her emotions and wiped at her eyes, “God I’m sorry.” 

Opal wrapped her arms tightly around Asami. “Don’t apologize. I can’t imagine if this happened to Bolin…”

Asami nodded, “I just…I want her to get better. I want everything to be okay again.”

“It will.” Opal told her, pulling away and holding Asami at arm’s length. “Things are already getting better.”

Asami nodded, realizing that she was right. It was slow, and it was gradual, but it looked like things might be moving in the right direction. 

“Let’s go enjoy tonight, yeah?” Opal asked.

“I would love that.” Asami said, following Opal into the living room.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this taking so long. Hopefully you all are still with me :) please enjoy!

It had been three days since Bolin, Mako, and Opal had come over for the night. Asami was more than happy to say them coming and seeing Korra had lifted both of their spirits a bit. She still was quieter than Asami would like, but it was nice to see her getting out of bed in the morning by herself. She even managed to laugh a few times during the day at Asami’s extremely bad jokes. 

This evening, Asami was ecstatic because Korra was sitting on the barstool in their kitchen, gazing at the engineer as she cooked on the stovetop. Asami and Korra had stayed in all day. It had been nice, they had sat at home and watched movies and cuddled in each other’s arms all day. Neither of them had even managed to get out of their PJs.

Asami peered over her shoulders at Korra, whose blue eyes were staring right at her, “What are you looking at?” Asami mumbled.

Korra cleared her throat nervously, “Oh, nothing.” 

Asami smirked, “Whatever, you were gawking at me.” 

Korra smiled softly, “Well,” she paused, “you know that nightgown is my favorite.”

Asami smiled and turned back to the stove. She did know that the nightgown she was wearing was Korra’s favorite. She knew that Korra would always get so excited when she wore this outfit to bed and the engineer definitely wore it with purpose today. Maybe it was too soon, and maybe it was selfish, but it had been quite a while and Asami missed Korra greatly. 

“Oh?” Asami peered over her shoulder once again, shooting Korra a seductive glance, “I’m happy to take it off, if you’d like.”

“What?” Korra’s voice was loud and cracked as she spoke. Asami nearly laughed at the tenseness that was flooding through that one word. 

“Relax, I’m kidding. Unless you want me to…” Because God knows Asami wants to, but she doesn’t know if this is how it should go—if she is supposed to wait for things to become completely normal again, but what if they never are normal again? What a stupid thing to say, ‘normal’, of course things will never be normal. They didn’t need to be, Asami didn’t want them to be. Not normal was good, it was good with her.

Korra was clearing her throat again, and Asami turned around. She pulled the skillet off the stove and turned the stove off in one swift motion. ‘What will it hurt? If she’s not ready, then she’s not ready. It won’t be bad to just see.’

Asami rounded the island in the middle of the kitchen until she was right in front of Korra’s barstool. The short-haired girl was staring at her with wide eyes, her face red and her mouth slightly agape. Asami smiled, leaning in and pressing her lips to Korra’s.

Korra paused at first before responding to the kiss. She scooted up in her seat, pressing her lips harder against ruby red, and then burying her right hand into Asami’s hair. Asami’s arms looped under Korra’s legs, and Korra let out a sudden yelp when she was lifted off the chair and carried from the kitchen to the living room sofa. 

She was dropped down onto the cushions on her back, looking straight up at her green-eyed girlfriend. Korra smiled, nervousness still filling all of her senses as Asami straddled her, her hands running up and down Korra’s sides before moving eagerly under Korra’s shirt.

Korra sucked in a breath, her hand reaching out and pulling on Asami’s neck, dragging their lips back together. Her eyes slid shut, and she savored the feeling of Asami’s hands on her, of Asami’s lips on hers. She suddenly felt so open, so vulnerable, and she was reminded once again how hopelessly in love she was with Asami. It always scared her, but ever since she had become injured it freaked her out so much because Korra knew if she didn’t have Asami she would be completely lost and gone. She would not be able to be saved.

So Korra kissed her harder, trying to put all the love she could into that kiss. Her hand reached out and tentatively fell on Asami’s lower stomach. She kept it there a moment, feeling Asami tense up under her touch and smiling proudly at herself. 

Asami’s lips left Korra’s, and Korra’s eyes creaked open, searching for those red lips, and a moment later she felt them against her neck. She let a soft sigh escape her lips, and her half-lidded eyes drifted up towards the ceiling.

The ceiling fan swung in circles above her, whipping past quickly but quietly. Her eyes blinked a few times, her mind jumping from satisfaction to fear because a moment later that wasn’t a ceiling fan. It was the helicopter. It was the wings that were spinning rapidly and descending down to her and Akio and Rei.

Korra gasped, terror taking over. She quickly pushed up, smacking heads with Asami in the process and rolling off of the couch harshly. She landed with a thud and her mind was going a mile a minute. Her breaths were gasps and she was trying to forget the blood on her hands, the shirt tied around Akio, the paleness of Rei’s skin.

Korra rolled over, her knees tucked against her chest and her left hand clutched against her tight. She heard something far-off, it may have been Asami, but it couldn’t reach her. Korra just couldn’t get away from it all. For a few days, she thought she could ignore everything that was still so wrong. Korra thought that if she ignored the pain that was pushing at her senses and the guilt that flowed through her that for some reason it may just disappear altogether.

It was a naïve idea though, her arm was proof that the pain was still here and all of that really had happened. Arms were suddenly on her back, and Korra could tell by their tender but firm grip that they belonged to her fiancé. 

“Korra, Korra are you okay?” 

Now she’s worried Asami. Now she’s ruined the three days that they had enjoyed together. She ruined what they were just starting, what they were just doing together. The two of them were doing so well. Asami was worrying less and she had stopped watching Korra’s every move. Asami was finally relaxing a bit, and then Korra lost it again.

“Oh God Korra, that was too soon. I’m so sorry for trying that. I shouldn’t have…” Asami murmured quickly.

“No,” Korra gasped. Asami couldn’t think this was her fault. She couldn’t blame herself. “I-I want to. I want to so bad.”

Asami’s hands were rubbing circles on Korra’s back, trying to soothe her pain. 

“I want to be with you.” Korra cried softly, letting her head fall against the wood floor and knocking it softly on the ground. Get it together Korra. You’re a mess. You’re going to freak her out.

Asami reached down and tucked her arms around Korra’s center, pulling her off the ground and into a sitting position. The engineer somehow managed to maneuver Korra around so that they were face to face, and Korra was staring at the green eyes she had been looking for moments earlier.

“What is it then? If it wasn’t us…”

The look of dread in Asami’s eyes made it so Korra knew she couldn’t lie. She couldn’t let Asami feel bad for something that they both so desperately wanted. “The fan,” she said softly, embarrassed at herself, “it was like the helicopter…”

There was a silence that filled the room for a few moments, and Korra slid her eyes shut, trying to rid her mind of the memories from that day. “Oh,” Asami said, finally putting together what Korra was saying. “Oh, we’re throwing it out then…we’re getting rid of it first thing tomorrow.”

Asami was so serious about it that Korra thought about laughing. She cracked her eyes open and Asami was reaching out, letting her hands fall on both sides of Korra’s face. “No,” Korra tried to force a smile, “That would be a bit absurd.”

“It’s not absurd if it helps you feel better.” Asami said simply.

Korra sighed, realizing that she still hadn’t stopped crying. She let go of her left arm that had been tucked against herself so that she could run her hand across her face to get rid of the tears. Korra then reached out and ran her thumb across Asami’s lips, not missing the fact that Asami leaned into her touch. “It wasn’t anything you did. I promise.” 

Asami nodded, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, “Okay,”

Korra’s eyes drifted up to Asami’s forehead, where they had smacked heads, and her hand trailed up to the small knot that was beginning to form. Asami reached up and dragged her hand down and into her lap. 

“I’m okay,” Asami told her.

Korra nodded, but the pain in Asami’s eyes gave way to how okay Asami really was.


End file.
